`Ground Shaking` To Mark Start Of Palm Beach Airport Project

Palm Beach International Airport is on the verge of a boom. Two booms, actually.

On Wednesday morning, an explosion will rock the airport, marking the official start of construction on the airport`s $157 million expansion -- a ``ground shaking`` as opposed to a ground breaking.

Government leaders will push a symbolic plunger to demolish the World War II- vintage hangar which, until recently, housed aircraft maintenance facilities for Butler Aviation.

The hangar stands in the way of a new, modern passenger terminal.

The second boom will be in mid-1988 when the new terminal is completed and opened to commercial airlines, unleashing an explosion in passenger traffic arriving at and leaving from the airport.

The new terminal will double the number of passenger gates from 12 to 24. By 1992, an estimated 2 million more passengers will use the terminal annually -- 1 million arriving and another million leaving.

With the present PBIA terminals operating at near-capacity levels, the number of passengers has remained relatively stagnant, posting small monthly gains or losses in recent years.

The number of arriving passengers at the airport has remained just above or just below the 2 million mark since airline deregulation in 1983, the last year a significant gain was posted. By 1992, more than 3 million passengers are expected to step off commercial airliners in Palm Beach County.

In recent years, passenger growth has been inhibited by the lack of terminal space, said Hugo Unruh, president of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County.

Unruh predicted the most measurable economic impact of the largest single county project in history will come during the terminal`s construction phase. Of $157 million being spent on airport improvements, $90 million will be spent on the terminal alone.

Given the rule of thumb that a dollar`s worth of wages going into the local economy turns over at least three times, ``it is obvious what an impact that will have,`` he said.

The impact will be magnified by the additional tourists coming into PBIA. According to figures developed by the county`s Tourist Development Council, each tourist will spend an average of 5.9 nights and $1,232 in the county.

The new terminal`s design will be ``airport modern`` -- clean, functional and cost-efficient, Airports Development Director Ken Jacobsen said.

Rather than the current catch-as-catch-can baggage handling system, which requires a side trip outside the terminal to a separate building, the new terminal will feature a centralized, computerized baggage pickup area on the lower level of the terminal leading directly to the outbound section of the airport`s roadway system.

The passenger areas will showcase what Palm Beach County is all about, Jacobsen said. ``We wanted to get away from the Miami Vice look of pastels and chrome, and go for something that better reflects the area,`` he said.